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2 \SheetsSheet 1 (No Model.)

G. H. BETHEL; APPARATUS FOR ADMINISTERING ELECTRICITY.

-No. 455,981. Patented July 14, .1891.

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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

G. HLBETHEL. APPARATUS FOR ADMINISTERING ELECTRICITY.

Patented July 14, 1891.

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UNITED STATES GEORGE HENRY BETHEL, OF SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES, ASSIGNOR TO THE BETHEL ELECTRIC MEDICAL BOURNE, VICTORIA.

PATENT OFFICE.

BATHS COMPANY, LIMITED, or MEL- APPARATUS FOR ADMINISTERING ELECTRICITY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 455,981, dated July 14, 1891. Application filed October 13, 1890. Serial No. 367,934. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: I

Be itknown that I, GEORGE HENRY BETHEL, homeopathist and medical electrician, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at 38 Botany street, Moore Park, Sydney, in the British Oolonyof New South Wales, have invented a new-and useful Improved Method of and Apparatus for Administering Electricity to the Human Body, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to what are generally known as electric medical baths, and it has been devised, chiefly, for the purpose of enabling electricity to be applied in large quantities to the human body without causing any shock to the S5 stem, while another object of this invention is to provide means whereby the current of electricity maybe easily regulated according to requirements.

The essential feature of this improved method of administering electricity to the human body consists in conducting the current into and out of the water in which the patient to be operated upon is immersed, no actual connection being made with any part of such patient.

The apparatus which I have devised in order to enable me to conveniently carry my invention into practice consists, essentially, of a cradle or frame having an inclined back, together with a comparatively large plate, which can be arranged behind said inclined back, and may be connected to one pole of a battery or other source of electricity, while the other pole is connected to the metal of which the bath is constructed, preferably at a point as far removed as possible from said plate, as will be'well understood from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a plan of a bath and adiagram of the necessary connections for conducting a current of electricity into the water contained therein, as above mentioned, while Fig. 2 is an elevation ofpart ofthe apparatus, illustrating the arrangement of battery, switches, and contact-breakers, whereby I provide for conducting either a continuous or an intermittent current into the bath; and Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a cradle or support, which is provided with an inclined back and upon which the patient rests while being operated upon, while Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the plate which, as hereinbefore mentioned, is placed in the water in the bath immediately behind the inclined back of the cradle upon which the patient reclines and which is connected to one pole of a battery or other source by I am enabled to switch any number of cells into the circuit, and am thus enabled to regulate the amount of current passed into the water of the bath. I prefer to employ a contact-breaker O, which can be inserted in the local-circuit of a battery 0. This said localcircuit includes aswitch 0, whereby said circuit maybe opened or closed at will. Atwoway switch 0 is also provided in order that the current from the battery A may be led either direct to the bath or be passed through said contact-breaker 0, thus enabling me to employ either a continuous or an intermittent current at will.

I prefer to support the cells A, switches B 0' c and contact-breaker 0 upon a framing D, as illustrated in Fig. 2, in such a manner as that. said switches will be within convenient reach of the attendant in charge of the bath.

E represents a cradle or support which is placed within the bath F, and upon'which the patient rests. This support or cradle E is provided with an inclined back e, which'may be constructed with cane-work 6. Behind this inclined back 6 is arranged a comparatively large plate G, having a slotted upward projection g, through whichis passed a clamp, bolt, or screw g which is screwed into a rod g at the head of the bath, said rod being connected, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 1, to one of the poles of the battery. This plate G an inclined back, such as e, of a verticallyadjustable plate, such as G, adapted to be inserted in the water behind said inclined back and connected with any convenient source whence a supply of electricity may be obtained, substantially as and for the purposes herein described and explained, and as illustrated in my drawings.

GEORGE HENRY BETHEL.

Witnesses:

THOMAS JAMES WARD, WILLIAM ARTHUR WILLIAMS. 

